When teachers are graded on their performance, there is rarely enough time to assess the out-of-classroom impact they might have on students as a result of such intangible qualities as personality, patience, tone of voice, and willingness to listen.

Keeping up appearances sometimes requires extraordinary effort. A lot can be overlooked when someone is young, pretty, perky, and in good health. But when tragic events darken one's days, desperate times require desperate measures.

With America's perverse gun culture, an overwhelming amount of armed violence being marketed as entertainment, and a rising number of mass shootings, the world premiere of George F. Walker's delicious new black comedy, Dead Metaphor, has a creepy timeliness.